The politics of being : the political thought of Martin Heidegger

For over fifty years the philosophical achievements of Martin Heidegger have been haunted by a devilʼs bargain struck between the philosopher and the National Socialist movement in the early 1930s-an alliance that Heidegger himself never explicitly renounced. The Politics of Being: the Political Thought of Martin Heidegger by Richard Wolin reconstructs the delicate interrelationship between philosophy and politics and the way in which Heideggerʼs failure as a political actor influenced the recasting of his philosophy in the 1930s and 1940s. Beginning with Heideggerʼs Being and Time, Wolin argues that the philosopherʼs decision for national Socialism cannot be understood apart form the most fundamental conditions of his philosophy. Thus, Heideggerʼs involvement with National Socialism was rooted in the innermost tendencies of his thought. And although Wolin denies that Heideggerʼs Nazism was a necessary outgrowth of Being and Time, he does suggest that the politics of the Nazi movement satisfied ideal of authentic historical commitment outlined in Heideggerʼs 1927 work.

Wolin then explains how Heideggerʼs failure in politics influenced the content and direction of his later philosophy. The author asserts that the major themes of Heideggerʼs later work-the quasi-apocalyptical indictments of humanism, technology and European nihilism-must be understood, to a degree, as an exercise in self-criticism. In The Politics of Being, Wolin cautions those who wish to seize on Heideggerʼs unsavory political allegiances as a pretext for disqualifying his philosophy as a whole. At the same time, he demonstrates convincingly that insofar as Heideggerʼs political choices are rooted in his philosophy, this fact cannot help but discredit some of the most essential features of Heideggerʼs philosophical project. Book Jacket.

Abstract:

For over fifty years the philosophical achievements of Martin Heidegger have been haunted by a devilʼs bargain struck between the philosopher and the National Socialist movement in the early 1930s-an alliance that Heidegger himself never explicitly renounced. The Politics of Being: the Political Thought of Martin Heidegger by Richard Wolin reconstructs the delicate interrelationship between philosophy and politics and the way in which Heideggerʼs failure as a political actor influenced the recasting of his philosophy in the 1930s and 1940s. Beginning with Heideggerʼs Being and Time, Wolin argues that the philosopherʼs decision for national Socialism cannot be understood apart form the most fundamental conditions of his philosophy. Thus, Heideggerʼs involvement with National Socialism was rooted in the innermost tendencies of his thought. And although Wolin denies that Heideggerʼs Nazism was a necessary outgrowth of Being and Time, he does suggest that the politics of the Nazi movement satisfied ideal of authentic historical commitment outlined in Heideggerʼs 1927 work.

Wolin then explains how Heideggerʼs failure in politics influenced the content and direction of his later philosophy. The author asserts that the major themes of Heideggerʼs later work-the quasi-apocalyptical indictments of humanism, technology and European nihilism-must be understood, to a degree, as an exercise in self-criticism. In The Politics of Being, Wolin cautions those who wish to seize on Heideggerʼs unsavory political allegiances as a pretext for disqualifying his philosophy as a whole. At the same time, he demonstrates convincingly that insofar as Heideggerʼs political choices are rooted in his philosophy, this fact cannot help but discredit some of the most essential features of Heideggerʼs philosophical project. Book Jacket.